Avoiding War
by Toni42
Summary: "Wipe him." Master Pierce demanded. The restraints closed around his arms, the chair began to lean backwards, the machine whirred to life. The Asset's breathing came in panicked gasps. Then something like a flash bomb went off and he clenched his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he was in a living room. WATCHING THE MOVIES STORY, INCLUDING GOTG AND A-M. (this's a side-project)
1. My House

**SUMMARY**

 _ **"Wipe him." Master Pierce demanded. The restraints closed around his arms, the chair began to lean backwards, the machine whirred to life. The Asset's breathing came in panicked gasps. Then something like a flash bomb went off and he clenched his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he was in a living room. WATCHING THE MOVIES STORY, INCLUDING GOTG AND A-M.**_

 ** _Toni Dye (me) and her friend Rory Rucksack decide to fix fate and avoid war between the heroes. So, they lock them up in a giant house with fifteen DVDs. Mainly told from a still brainwashed Bucky's point of view, set a day_ _after the Avengers. Includes 27 different characters watching the films, which are all twelve in the Avengers series._**

* * *

The Asset groaned, slumping against the wall. His head was pounding against his skull, his body bruised and dirty. He looked up as Handler Rumlow walked towards where he'd fallen, just in time get a boot to the chin. The Asset gritted his teeth, trying not to cry out. When he makes too much noise, he was punished even worse. Besides, this was nothing compared to what he's taken before.

He could take it. Not like he had any choice.

Handler Rumlow grabbed him by the neck, pulling him up and slamming him against the wall. The Asset didn't meet his eyes, instead taking to starring at Handler Rumlow's chin. The grip on his neck tightened.

Then Handler Rumlow let him go, and the Asset took in a deep breath. The mask, slick, black, restricting, was slipping back on his face, harshly buckled around his mouth and nose by rough hands. He was pulled roughly to his feet and pushed into the chair. The Asset felt his heart jump into his throat, fear gripping him and he had to force himself not to let his hands shake.

"Please," the Asset gasped, voice cracking from under use and muffled by the mask. He didn't want to forget that tiny little boy, whoever he is, whatever his name is. There was an overwhelming urge to _protect_. It wasn't the same as the urge to protect his Handlers; that was part of his programming. He didn't want to forget him; he _needed_ to find the skinny boy, _needed_ to make sure he was alright, that he was _alive._ He needed to make sure the guy wasn't getting beat up again. "Please, don't make me forget."

"Wipe him." Master Pierce demanded.

The restraints closed around his arms, the chair began to lean backwards, he heard the machine begin to whir to life. His breathing came in panicked gasps, his hands curling into fists.

He wondered where that little punk was.

 _BOOM!_

A ringing filled the Assets ears, and he clenched his eyes shut against the white that clouded his vision. It was as if some sort of smoke grenade had gone off. Had they updated the machine? Was it going to hurt even more?

A moment passed.

They do this sometimes. Wait for him to relax, for him to start thinking they weren't going to actually wipe him. And then do it.

But when he began hearing startled yells and curses, the Asset finally opened his eyes, suddenly realizing that he wasn't in the chair anymore, but on the floor. Hell, he wasn't in that _room_ anymore.

Immediately launching to his feet, the Asset quickly took in his surroundings. He was in a _very_ big living room, filled with comfortable looking couches, chairs, recliners, pillows and blankets and a giant, plasma TV. Two large windows were on either side of the TV, red curtains hanging at their sides, and outside the window was a garden, a cobblestone path leading away from the house and into rows upon rows of brightly colored flowers and trees. If there was some sort of wall or something, the Asset could not see it, even with his enhanced vision.

There were two doors to the left, one with the feminine sign on it and the other with the masculine sign, so they must be the restrooms. To the right, there was a large, open doorway leading into a hall. By the looks of things, he was in a large house, perhaps even a mansion.

The Asset stepped back silently, hiding himself in the shadows against the wall, now taking in the other people in the room. They looked just as startled as he felt, and most of them had drawn weapons.

There was twenty-six others, seventeen male and eight female, two with strange skin tones, a walking tree and a talking, walking raccoon with a gun, who seemed to be the one doing most of the swearing.

"SHUT UP!" yelled a man with an eye patch. Almost immediately, everyone stopped yelling, although they still had weapons pointing at each other. No one seemed to have noticed the Asset, who only had his body armor and no weapons, besides his arm of course.

 _"Thank you, Director Fury."_ said a feminine voice, seemingly to come from everywhere and nowhere. The Asset nearly jumped. Nearly.

"What the hell is _that_?" the man in a long, red coat with a 1980's walkman strapped to his belt asked.

 _"My name is Toni Dye, Author 925. I have brought you here for an_ extremely _special occasion. You see, you kinda of all try to kill each other in the future, and I want to stop that so... here we are!"_

"And what do you plan to do with us, exactly?" asked Eye Patch, looking at the ceiling just for a place to _look_.

 _"Simple. You're all going to watch twelve different films, most of them around two hours long, about yourselves from the past, present and future."_

A man with a brightly colored shield raised his eyebrows. "How is that possible?"

 _"I'm with the_ Authors _, Captain Rogers."_ said Toni Dye, Author 925 as if it were obvious. The Asset could almost hear her rolling her eyes. _"I'm not exactly human and there for I do not exactly have human resources."_

"But what if we don't agree to this?" asked a women with short red hair.

 _"Your loss, then. You can just sit outside if you like, while everyone else discovers things, secrets even, that you should really know."_

Eye Patch shared a look with a women with brown hair in a bun and a man in a suit, before returning his one-eyed gaze to the ceiling. "We don't have much of a choice in this, do we?"

Tony Dye chuckled. _"No, Director. You do not. Now,"_ the Asset heard her clap her hands together, _"Why don't you all get comfy while I read out some names before we begin?"_

Reluctantly, the others began to pile around the living room, mostly keeping to their own separate groups. The Asset, still unaware of by the others, slowly sat down in the corner, where he had a clear view of the screen and the entire room, and the others would have to know he was there to actually spot him.

 _"Right, so,_ " continued Toni Dye. _"I'm going to do your names alphabetically and then tell you the titles of the films you're going to watch in the order that you're going to watch them. Then I'll put the first one on."_ she cleared her throat.

 _"Anthony "Tony" Stark,"_

Tony raised his eyebrows at the ceiling, as some of the others looked at him automatically.

 _"Clinton Barton, Darcy Lewis,"_

Darcy made a popping sound with her mouth and finger.

 _"Drax the Destroyer,"  
_

The blue guy in red markings raised a large fist in the air, grinning manically. Some of the others leaned away from him.

 _"Elizabeth Ross, Gamora, Groot,"_

The walking tree smiled at the scientist in the room, who were not the only ones starring at him in awe and curiosity, but most of the assassin regarded him with weariness, as they had with Drax.

 _"Hank Pym,"_

The others looked at Pym in acknowledgment, Tony leaning across a strawberry blond women to shake his hand.

 _"Hope van Dyne, Jane Foster,"_

"LADY JANE!" yelled a blond man in a red cape, having seemingly just realized she was there. The Asset distantly recognized him as the Norse God, Thor. The women, Jane Foster, grinned at him and she was pulled into an eager hug.

 _"James "Rhodey" Rhodes, James "Bucky" Barnes-"_

"What?" Steve Rogers said, looking up at the ceiling in shock and a tiny, tiny bit of hope. "What did you just say."

Toni, who seemed to have expected this, repeated the last name slowly. _"James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes."_

"B-Bucky's here?" asked Steve, sitting up straighter and looking around the room for his seemingly dead friend. "You can bring back the dead too?"

 _"Er... well..."_

But Steve didn't seem to notice Toni Dye's hesitation. He stood up, resting his shield against the couch he'd been sitting on. "Bucky?"

 _"Yes, Bucky Barnes_ is _here."_ began Toni, but Steve cut her off before she could continue, voice filled almost painfully with hope and disbelief.

"Where is he?"

 _"See, Cap, the thing is... it's Bucky's choice to show himself. He... He's not entirely sure any of this is real and wants to make sure that what I'm about to show you is accurate. He wants to be sure you're... you."_

The Asset knew the invisible girl was lying. And, by the looks of it, so did the other assassins. But Steve Rogers bought the lie and, shoulders slumping in disappointment, he sat back down.

 _"Okay, where was I... Loki Odin-Laufeyson,"_

Clint immediately tensed, as did most of the others, head snapping towards the God of Mischief's direction. But Loki ignored them, instead looking at the ceiling in interest. No one had combined the two surnames together before...

 _"Maria Hill, Nicolas J. Fury, Natasha Romanoff, Phillip Coulson, Peter Quill, Pietro Maximoff, Robert "Bruce" Banner,"_

Tony snorted. "Your first name's Robert?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow at him. "Your first name's Anthony?"

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Touche, Greenie. Touche."

 _"Rocket Raccoon,"_

All heads snapped towards the raccoon sitting on the tree's, Groot, shoulder.

"What?" Rocket snarled, glaring at the people starring at him. Most seemed to get the idea that he wasn't exactly an animal and respectfully looked away, but some (mainly a guy in a military uniform and graying hair) continued to stare openly.

 _"Steven Rogers, Scott Lang, Sam Wilson, Thor Odinson, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross,"_

Bruce immediately tensed, the women next to him, Betty, taking his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze.

 _"Virginia "Pepper" Potts and Wanda Maximoff."_

A boy and a girl, which the Asset identified as twins, were sharing a love seat, throwing glares in Tony Stark's direction every now and then. The Asset realized that they held a grudge against the man, who did not seem oblivious to their heated glares.

 _"Alright, now the films."_ continued Toni Dye, Author 925, _"Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man."_

Pym raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise at the last one, while the Asset tensed at the third one before it. The Winter Soldier? That's what some of the soldiers at HYDRA had called him and, from what he knew, was what the Media had called him, when they'd gotten a picture of him killing someone. The memory was fuzzy and his head hurt from the effort of remembering it, but he knew he must have been severely punished afterwards.

Memories and punishment aside, he was surely here for a reason. From the looks of things, some of the others looked a bit lost, as if they too were wondering why they were here. So he must have a run in with one of them, perhaps all of them, in the future.

 _"It might take a few days to watch all of them,"_ said Toni, _"So the kitchen is full stalked with all different kinds of food and there are bedrooms for everyone down the hall. The bathrooms are to your left and the movie will pause when a long conversation begins so you don't miss anything. Oh, and one more thing. When your on screen self gets injured, you will feel it but will not actually obtain it."_

"What if one of us dies?" Fury asked.

 _"Then you'll pass out for ten minutes. It will be your choice to continue watching the movie or wait until they wake up. Now, u_ _p first: Iron Man!"_

The screen flickered on, gaining everyone's, including the Asset's, attention.

The Asset wondered how he'll be punished when HYDRA takes him back into custody.

He wondered where the boy was.

* * *

 **I'm going to say this now: there is a 40% chance that this story will not be finished. Also, my main focus will be on _I Just Wanna Be Okay_ and all the movies will be in this one story. So after Iron Man is done, I won't be bringing up another story called _Avoiding War: The Incredible Hulk_ or whatever. And Bucky won't be discovered for a while, but he _will_ interact with the others eventually, maybe even get attached to Steve. This story is mainly about Bucky and the others slowly realizing who he really is, although Steve probably won't find out until either _The First Avenger_ or somewhere afterwards.**

 **All pairings are canon. Toni Dye is unlikely to make a physical appearance or talk much during the films.**

 **THIS STORY WAS EDITED ON MAY 22nd 2016. IT HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY CHANGED SO THAT THEY FEEL THE PAIN WHEN THEIR ON-SCREEN SELVES ARE INJURED. OTHER CHAPTERS WILL ALSO BE EDITED TO FIT THIS CHANGE.**


	2. Taken Hostage (IM S1)

**I am now going to use the two stories I am currently working on (this one and _I Just Wanna Be Okay_ ) to tell you when the opposite story will be updated at the latest.**

 **So, true to my word, _I Just Wanna Be Okay_ will be updated on March 31st, next Thursday, at the latest. Until then, please enjoy the second chapter to _Avoiding War_.**

* * *

IRON MAN

SCENE ONE

* * *

 _A desert, with mountains in the background, a group of cars kicking up clouds of dirt and sand in the distance._

Tony immediately tensed, Pepper putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The Asset's eyes narrowed on the mechanic, but not menacingly. What had happened in this desert that made him tense upon immediate sight?

 _The song Back In Black by AC/DC begins to play, as the screen switched to show the front of the head, army vehicle, which had an soldier sitting on the roof in the gun seat._

Most of the Avengers, Pepper and Rhodey rolled their eyes.

"Yup, this is Tony." Steve sighed, with an exasperated smile. Tony, comforted (if only a little) by the familiar song, grinned and bobbed his head to the music, while Quill listened in apparent interest.

 _The words **Kunar Province, Afghanistan** appeared on the bottom of the screen._

"This is Afghanistan?" Bruce said, quietly.

Tony, who was no longer grinning and looked rather sick, nodded, not tearing his eyes from the screen.

 _The screen showed the three army vehicles passing, then changed angle so they were passing a man with a goat. It showed the back of the last vehicle, before switching to inside it, where a radio was playing, the source of the music._

 _It switched to show an army man, looking almost awkwardly around the car, before casting his eyes downwards. Then it cut to a square glass of alcohol, ice clinking together inside it, resting in a hand. The screen went up and focused on another soldier, who was looking at the person next to him nervously and then turning his gaze forward._

Tony swallowed, his throat going tight. He began to unconsciously tap the Arc Reactor in his chest, the Asset immediately picking up on the nervous habit and automatically storing it to memory. His Handlers liked to get every tiny bit of information out of him before wiping him. Perhaps that was why he was here? To tell HYDRA of their enemies weaknesses?

 _Now we see Tony, in an expensive suit and sunglasses, the source of the tension._

Steve frowned. "Why are you there?"

"I used to make weapons," Tony explained. "This was just after a demonstration and they were taking me back to where I was staying."

 _The soldier's gaze returned to Tony, briefly making eye contact with him before quickly looking forward again._

 _"I feel like you're driving to a court-martial," he said. "This is crazy. What did I do?"_

"Probably something stupid." said Natasha. Pepper nodded, causing Tony to give her a betrayed look.

 _"I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff me." continued Tony, "What, you're not allowed to talk?" When he got no answer, he said to the soldier next to him, "Hey, Forrest!"_

"You shouldn't talk to soldiers like that." said Steve disapprovingly.

"I think these guys are new." Sam objected. "And Stark's pretty intimidating at first. I think it's nice of him to try and defuse the tension like that."

Steve blinked. "Are you with the army?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, been for about a year now."

"I'm a Colonel." Rhodey declared.

"Dear Lord, there's three of them!" Tony exclaimed, dramatically throwing his arms into the air.

"Four," Ross sniffed snobbishly, "I'm a General."

Sam, Steve and Rhodey gave him small frowns, looking him up and down almost in confusion. He looked like one of those guys that bought his way to the top.

"Aren't you Thaddeus Ross?" asked Steve. At Ross's nod, his frown deepened. "The guy that was the cause for major destruction in New York a couple years ago?"

"What?" said Ross, taken aback.

"You unleashed the Hulk." Steve said pointedly. "If you hadn't shown up, none of that would have happened."

At Bruce's surprised look, Steve shrugged sheepishly. "I've been looking at old newspapers and news clippings on the YouTube. The Hulk Event was one of them and, when I asked about it, Hill debriefed me on what happened."

Ross growled. "That monster-"

"Shut up." Coulson cut him off, sending him a glare. "Banner's movie-thing is after this one, so we can talk about it then."

 _"We can talk, sir." said the young soldier._

 _"Oh, I see," Tony said, "So it's personal?"_

 _The screen cut to the one driving, "No, you intimidate them." she said._

"Ah, a female warrior!" Thor shouted, causing Jane and Clint, who were on either side of him, to wince.

Steve smiled. "I must admit, the gender equality is much better then it was back in the forties. Women weren't even allowed to be apart of the police, otherwise Peggy Carter would have joined the Howling Commandos."

The Asset winced, his head starting to pound. He rubbed it with his flesh hand, momentarily distracted from the film.

 _"Good god, you're a women." said Tony, lowering his glass. "I honestly, I couldn't have called that."_

 _The screen showed the women soldier, who was beginning to smile, before cutting back to a still-talking Tony._

 _"I'd apologize, but isn't that what we're going for here?" the screen showed the young soldier, now named Forrest, also starting to smile._ _"I thought of you as a soldier first."_

 _"I'm an airman." the driver corrected._

 _"Well, you have, actually, excellent bone structure there," Tony said, "I'm kinda... having a bit of trouble_ not _looking at you now. Is that weird?"_

 _The airman, Forrest and man in the front began laughing, causing Tony to grin._

" _C'mon, it's okay, laugh!" encouraged Tony. "Hey!"_

Wanda and Pietro shared a strange look, but Pietro shook his head and Wanda, biting her lip uncertainly before steeling herself, returned her attention to the screen.

 _"Sir, I have a question to ask." said the man in front, twisting in his seat to look at the billionaire._

 _"Yes, please."_

 _"Is it true you went twelve for twelve with last years Maxim cover models?"_

"All twelve?" Quill asked, surprised. Drax, Gamora, Groot and Rocket just looked confused, but they all shrugged it off as a lost cause.

"Do you even know who I am?" asked Tony. When Quill shook his head, Tony gaped at him before turning away, crossing his arms over his stomach (the Asset guessed that it was because of the Arc Reactor that he couldn't do it with his chest; that must mean it can cause him pain or make him uncomfortable).

"Now I'm just offended." said Tony, making most of the people around him roll their eyes in exasperation.

 _Tony removed his sunglasses. "That is an excellent question. Yes and no, March and I had a scheduling conflict but, fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins."_

 _The screen showed the grinning airman, before going back to Tony. "Anything else?"_

 _Forrest raised his hand, making Tony raise his eyebrows. "You're kidding me with the hand-thing, right?" Forrest immediately put his hand back down._

 _"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?"_

 _"Yes," said Tony, "It is very cool."_

"Well, that's nice." said Betty, smiling.

Tony shrugged. "I do nice once every century or so."

 _Forrest grinned excitedly and pulled a small camera out of his pocket, handing it to the man in front._

 _"Alright." said the man in front, as Forrest and Tony leaned towards each other, Forrest throwing up a peace sign._

 _"I don't wanna see this on my MySpace page." said Tony._

"MySpace? How long ago _was_ this?" Clint asked.

"Barton, this was 2008." Tony explained. Steve, Quill, Rocket, Gamora, Groot, Drax, Thor and the Asset decided not to ask what the hell a MySpace was.

 _"Please, no gang signs."_

 _Forrest immediately put his hand down. Tony glanced at him._

 _"No, throw it up, I'm kidding."_

Steve rolled his eyes. "You just _love_ to mess with people." he tried to look disapproving, but couldn't help the amused smile tugging at his lips.

"Yes, Captain. Yes, I do." agreed Tony, slowly nodding his head as if he'd just given the most wisest advice in the world.

 _"Yeah, peace," said Tony. "I love peace. Would be outta the job with peace."_

Scott snorted. "You seem to be doing just fine, in my opinion."

 _The man in the front seemed to be fiddling with the camera._

 _"Come on!" said Forrest impatiently. "Come on, just click it! Don't change any of the settings, just-"_

 _The car in front of them exploded._

"Oh my god!" Hope gasped, many others jumping in their seats. Steve was on his feet, having a brief flashback of the war. Gamora and Natasha both drew weapons, and the Asset probably would have done the same if he'd had any. Tony seemed to be having trouble keeping his hands from shaking, and Rhodey's face had gone oddly blank.

 _There were screams and a brief shot of a wide-eyed Tony, who'd fallen back against his seat, before the vehicle came to a stop._

 _"What's going on?" asked Tony, sounding panicked. "What have we got?"_

 _"Contact left!" said the airman, loading her gun._ _The airman kicked open her door and hopped out, gun in hand, but was immediately shot down._

"Who the hell are these guys?" Rocket asked, starring at the screen with wide eyes.

"Middle Eastern Group, call themselves the Ten Rings." explained Tony quietly, deciding to ignore the fact that he was talking to an alien raccoon with a giant gun.

 _"Jimmy, stay with Stark!" the man in the front shouted, before exiting the vehicle._

 _The young soldier, now Jimmy, gripped Tony's shoulder and pushed him onto the floor of the car. "Stay down!"_

 _From Tony's position, he could see the man that was in the front putting his gun on the hood of the car. The front window smashed as the man was taken down._

"Oh no..." Betty muttered, putting her hands over her mouth, starring at the screen with wide eyes. Bruce gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, allowing Betty to hide her face in his shoulder and ignoring, with effort, the deadly look Ross sent him.

 _Tony gasped, looking away. Jimmy picked up his gun._

 _"Son of a bitch!" he said, loading it and opening the car door._

 _"Wait, wait, wait, give me a gun!" shouted Tony._

 _"Stay. Here!" Jimmy shouted through the window, before turning around. He barely made it a few steps before bullet holes tore at the cars side._

Tony squeezed his eyes shut, looking away from the screen. Pepper grabbed his hand, she and Rhodey wrapping their arms around him in a protective hug.

 _There was a shot briefly made from Tony's eyes, before he looked out the window and saw as group of soldiers by one of the other cars. There was a burst of flame, then they were all on the ground, limp. His eyes were wide with horror._

 _Tony looked out the other window, made a split-second decision, and got out the car._

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!" Rhodey screamed, making Tony cringe.

"No, no, go back, go back!" said Sam, while Natasha cursed Tony in Russian.

 _An explosion went off to his left as Tony stumbled forward, beginning to run as fire briefly blocked him from view. He leaped forward, landing next to a rock and leaning against it for cover._

"What else was I supposed to do?!" Tony asked, seeing as he was still receiving rather viscous glares from those around him.

"Oh, I don't know, DO AS YOU'RE TOLD AND STAY IN THE FREAKING CAR?!" Rhodey yelled.

Negative, thought the Asset, since he has no weapons or any form of training, he would have still been captured and there was still the possibility of the vehicle he was occupying exploding by a stray or direct bullet hitting the gas tank.

 _Bullets sprayed to and fro as Tony pulled out his phone, a little screen flipping up at the top, and began typing, most likely for help. But not a moment later, a missile landed a few feet away from him, the words **STARK INDUSTRIES** displayed clearly on the side._

"Holy _shit_." swore Scott.

"Jesus Christ, it _literally_ has your name on it!" Clint exclaimed.

 _Tony stood up, intending to run for cover, but he had barely just gotten to his feet before the missile exploded, knocking him backwards with a yell. Tony landed on the ground, covered in dirt and his hair and suit a complete mess._

Tony winced, jumping as pain flared up in his back, legs and head. His chest seemed to be on fire, and he grabbed the Arc Reactor with a shaking hand, squeezing his eyes shut and taking deep breaths through his nose.

"Shit." Rhodey breathed and, seeing as how there was nothing he could do to make the pain go away, pulled Tony into a hug, the smaller man nearly in his lap. Pepper pressed up against him, kissing Tony's forehead.

 _He blinked open his eyes, a ringing filling his ears and muffling the gunshots. Tony looked down, his white dress shirt beginning to stain red, and he ripped it open to reveal a bullet proof vest, covered in his own blood, the screen slowly pulling away and going white._

"Tony?" said Pepper quietly. The genius wasn't even trying to stop his hands from shaking anymore, and he'd buried his face into Rhodey's shoulder, who no longer looked anger and was rubbing soothing circles on his friends back. The Asset realized he was on the verge of an Anxiety Attack.

"Tony, are you alright?" whispered Pepper.

"Tones?" said Rhodey, but Tony still wouldn't answer. He shared a concerned look with Pepper over his head.

"I'm fine." Tony gasped out after a moment, although he was very obviously far from it.

"Sure you are." Rhodey muttered, pulling the traumatized man closer as he very obviously forced his breathing back to normal.

 _The screen became clear again, light shinning through millions of tiny holes of what was obviously the inside of a sack. The screen cut to outside the sack, just before it was pulled off to reveal Tony's face, who squinted in the light, face covered in blood._

 _He looked around, his eyes widening. The screen showed two men, one recording what was happening with a video camera._

 _The screen went back to Tony, zooming out to reveal himself to be surrounded by people wearing masks and with large guns, the one to his left pointing the barrel of his gun at Tony's head while to his right, a man read from a piece of paper._

"You were taken hostage?!" Steve exclaimed. But Tony couldn't seem to bring himself to give a verbal answer or some sort of witty comment, instead nodding into Rhodey's shoulder. Pepper tightened her hold on his hand.

 _The screen went black, the words **IRON MAN** appearing in gold, before turning sideways and vanishing into black._

Silence around the room.

"Well, _shit_." said Clint.

The Asset couldn't help but agree.

* * *

 **Chappie two is done! I was halfway through writing this and then thought _'I wanna look at funny tumblr pics on Pinterest'_ so I went on Pinterest and looked at funny tumblr pics. I would have finished this a _lot_ sooner if I had not gone and looked at someone wearing a condom on their foot.**

 **I should _so_ make a tumblr.**

 **But then I'd never update.**

 **You know, at the beginning of this chapter I made a mental note to write something at the bottom AN.**

 **Said mental note is now lost in a mental drawer in a mental sea of mental notes.**


	3. Thirty-Six Hours Earlier (IM S2)

**Wow, I'm such an asshole for not updating any of more stories in weeks. Like, really, my cousins had come over for a week so I wasn't really on the computer much, but then... yeah. Let's just say I had some trouble flicking the writing switch back on and I really am an asshole. Sorry.**

* * *

IRON MAN

SCENE TWO

* * *

 _"Tony Stark..." a deep, masculine voice said. The screen came back to life, revealing a stage, a picture of Tony on either side, men and women in expensive clothing sitting at round tables decorated with white table cloths and fake flower banquets. On the bottom of the screen, it read_ ** _Las Vegas, 36 Hours Earlier_** _._

"It's scary." said Jane, "How only hours earlier you had been in Las Vegas getting an Apogee Award and then you're being held hostage by terrorists."

"Yeah," Tony muttered, finally pulling away from Rhodey's shoulder and admittedly a bit embarrassed. Hey, at least there wasn't a reporter with them. "It's scarier how only minutes before it happened, I was helping three newbies unwind and laugh."

"At least they got to laugh." said Steve seriously, looking Tony right in the eye. "If anything, me and Bucky having joked around only minutes before he fell into the Alps was both traumatizing and relieving for me. I've seen some soldiers losing friends that didn't even get that."

Tony gave Steve a small smile, which the Captain returned, before their eyes once again settled on the screen, the mechanic feeling just a little bit better.

 _"Visionary," continued the masculine voice, "Genius, American patriot."_

Tony snorted with no humor. _America patriot_ his ass.

 _The screen showed a picture of current Tony, his arms across his chest, before switching to a black and white photo of a young boy, possibly sitting on a horse, looking over his shoulder slightly to smile at the camera._

"Aw, you were so cwute!" Clint cooed. Tony scowled at him

 _"Even at a young age, the son of legendary weapons developer," the picture changed to a different black and white photo, this one of a much-older-then-Steve-remembered Howard Stark, posing in front of some blueprints pinned to the wall behind him, "Howard Stark, quickly stole the spot light with his brilliant and unique mind," the screen now showed the people watching the slide-show, including a bald man with a beard wearing an expensive suit, before returning to another black and white picture, this one of another young Tony and a man._

Tony swallowed.

 _"At age four, he built his first circuit board."_

"Wait, _four_?" Betty gaped. Darcy let out a low, impressed whistle.

 _The screen changed to show a magazine cover of little Tony and Howard sitting on a motorcycle. "At age six, his first engine."_

 _Now it showed another magazine cover, this one of MIT, with a teenage Tony on the cover, holding a bit of chalk to a blackboard which seemed to have a blueprint of his robot Dum-E on it._

"You built Dum-E in MIT?" Pepper asked curiously. She'd never really thought about how old Dum-E could be. Tony just shrugged.

 _"At seventeen, he graduated summa cum laude from MIT."_

"Seventeen? But that's the age people _start_!" exclaimed Sam.

"Not this guy!" Tony grinned, pointing his thumb at his chest.

 _Now the screen showed a news paper clipping on teenage Tony, kneeling next to a newly-made Dum-E. Then is changed to another news paper clipping, this one with a picture of a very old Howard Stark and the title reading **Howard and Maria Stark Die in Car Accident on Long Island**._

"Howard died in a car accident?" Steve asked. He knew he was dead, but he'd just thought his time had come or something.

"We think it was staged," said Natasha, "But he don't know why or how or who."

The Asset's head hurt.

 _"Then, the passing of a titan." now it showed another black and white photo, this one of a younger Howard Stark standing next to a grinning man, who had his arm around his shoulders._

Tony tensed, before forcing himself to relax. But it still caught the Asset's eye, who gave him another curious look. The movie had barely started and already this man has tensed multiple times and almost had an Anxiety Attack. What happened that was so traumatizing?

 _"Howard Stark's lifelong friend and alley, Obadiah Stane," the screen showed another magazine cover, this one of an older version of the grinning man, who had his hands on his hips and was looking down, "Steps in to help fill the gap left by the legendary founder," the camera zooms out so it showed the full cover of the same magazine, revealing Stane to be looking down at a miniaturized version of the Earth, "Until at age 21, the prodigal son returns,"  
_

 _Another magazine cover, this one of a more familiar looking Tony but without any facial hair, looking off to the left while Stane stands behind him, looking over his shoulder. The one magazine splits into three._

"Huh." said Clint, cocking his head to the side. "So that's what you look like without facial hair."

"What ever happened to that Obadiah guy?" Steve asked curiously, innocently. Tony swallowed.

"He, uh, he died."

 _"And is anointed the new CEO of Stark Industries." the three magazines returned to one, the words_ ** _STARK INDUSTRIES_** _appearing on both sides._

 _The screen cuts to the audience, who begin to clap and cheer, mainly focusing on the bald man with the beard, who they recognize as Obadiah Stane._

"Anointed? Honestly, they make it sound special or something." said Tony, rolling his eyes.

 _Now the slide-show is showing another magazine cover, this one of current Tony, beard and all, with Obadiah Stane standing behind him. "With the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his fathers legacy,"_

 _It shows a clip of a computerized missile flying through a digital sky, then a computerized turbo jet engine. "Creating smarter weapons, advanced robotics," now there's the lines of a map, zeroing on the middle and zooming in, "Satellite targeting."_

 _It fades into yet another magazine cover, this one with only Tony on the cover, surrounding by millions other, blurred pictures. "Today, Tony Stark has changed the face of the weapons industries," the other pictures pit together around the magazine like a puzzle piece, "By ensuring freedom and by protecting America," the blurry pictures fade into the American flag, the magazine fading last. It dissolves into yet another picture of Tony with jets in the background. "And her interests around the globe."_

"I don't see why you stopped making weapons," Steve said honestly, "I mean, you were helping the soldiers fight, weren't you?"

"That's what I thought I was doing," Tony admitted, "And it doesn't really sound all that bad when you put it that way. It probably wouldn't have been that bad, really, if people hadn't been illegally selling my weapons to terrorists."

Steve's eyes widened. "Is that why they had one of your missiles?"

Tony nodded, keeping his eyes stubbornly on the screen.

 _The audience begin clapping again, as a light goes on on the stage, reveling none other then Colonel Rhodes at the microphone._

 _"As liaison to Stark Industries," began Rhodey._

"Hey, that's you!" exclaimed Darcy, jabbing a finger at the screen.

"Yup, that would be me." said Rhodey, "Thirty-six hours before I stopped sleeping for nearly three months."

Tony glanced at him, reaching out and giving the mans knee a squeeze. Rhodey put his arm over Tony's shoulder, pulling him closer protectively and ignoring the glances he got for doing so. His best friend, who was practically the only family he had left, had gone missing for three months. He didn't care if it was years ago. Those had been the most terrifying three months of his life, and he himself had never even been in any actual danger. So could you blame him for wanting to reassure himself that said man was still there?

 _"I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot." Rhodey said, "He is my friend and he is my great mentor."_

Tony snorted, twisting a bit so he could look at Rhodey's face. "They make you say that?"

"Well, yes, they did." admitted Rhodey, "I think they wanted to put you in some sort of fatherly light or something."

Almost everyone in the room snorted at that.

"If they wanted to put you in a fatherly light," Natasha spoke up, "They should have shown you with the bots. What were they called again?"

"Dum-E, Butterfingers, U and Jarvis." answered Tony, smiling. He'll never forget when they drew him that picture for Fathers Day; he'd been pleasantly surprised, to say the least. It was the only thing that he really kept in his lab and he usually took it on trips out of the country with him. He'd been very glad he'd left it at the hotel when he'd been taken hostage, or else it would have probably been destroyed.

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this years Apogee award to Mr. Tony Stark." said Rhodey, and the audience began clapping as music played, Rhodey clapping as well, holding the trophy in hand._

"Ooo, an Apogee Award." said Jane, glancing at Tony, who seemed uninterested. "Exactly how many times have you been given an award?"

Tony shrugged. "Lost count. When I first got an award at like, what? Six, seven? I was really honored and all that, but by the time I was twenty I didn't usually bother showing up, like I did here." _Mostly because Dad was never proud or anything with me getting awards._ But this last part was left unsaid.

 _"Tony?" Rhodey called out after a moment. The screen showed the bearded man again, Obadiah Stane, who shook his head._

 _Rhodey just stood there awkwardly with the trophy, the audience still clapping, before Stane got to his feet and made his way up onto the stage._

"You know, I really wanted to strangle you there." Rhodey said and Tony gave a sheepish grin.

"I said sorry."

"Yes, but you didn't mean it. Asshole."

"Dickhead."

 _"Thank you, Colonel." said Stane, taking the trophy and smiling at it as Rhodey stepped back to allow him to take over._

 _"Well, this is, um," Stane continued, "Beautiful. Thank you."_

 _It switched to show the crowd, still clapping. "Thank you all very much. This is wonderful."_

 _Now it switches back to the stage, showing Stane holding the trophy in front of him as if admiring it. "Well, I'm not Tony Stark."_

 _The crowd laughed, the angle briefly changing so that it showed Stane's back and the crowd, before going back to the front._

 _"But if I_ were _Tony, I'd tell you how honored I feel."_

"Why do I doubt that?" Steve asked. Tony grinned.

"'Cause you know it ain't true."

 _"And, ah, what a joy it is to receive this very prestigious award." Stane held the award up, the light catching on the glass ball at the top, before continuing, "Tony, you know, ah, the best thing about Tony is also the worst thing. He's always working."_

 _The screen cut to a casino, where a group of people surrounded one of the game tables, as none other then Tony- hair slicked back, wearing tinted orange sunglasses and a maroon dress shirt- throws two dice onto the table._

Laughs and snorts erupted around the room, others grinning and shaking their head. The twins shot Tony identical glares, although the billionaire either didn't notice or didn't care.

"That's brilliant." Quill said, shaking his head and grinning, "Absolutely brilliant."

"It is true though." Pepper cut in once everyone righted themselves, "I've lost count of the amount of times either me or Rhodey had to drag Tony out of the lab to eat, sleep and shower."

"Yeah," Rhodey agreed, grinning when Tony shot them both looks of betrayal, "I think his record of being down there is, what, three weeks? That time when I was busy in the army and Pepper had to do business in China. When we got back, it was horrifyingly easy to drag him out the lab."

"You two," Tony said, pointing from Rhodey to Pepper, "Are traitors."

The Asset's brow furrowed. How were they traitors? Had they tried to kill Stark? If so, why were they all grinning and why did the Colonel appear to be seeking bodily comfort?

 _"Work it!" Tony said, as he stepped back from the table, turned around and lightly head-butted Happy Hogan's shoulder. "Come on!"_

 _He turned around, leaning against the table and briefly greeting a pretty girl in a red dress, before his attention was captured by a brunette in a black dress, who was giving him a suggestive grin, her hand on his chest._

"Okay," Tony said, holding his hands up, "Just so we're clear, this was _before_ I got together with Pepper."

 _But before they could get any further, Rhodey appeared between them. "You are unbelievable."_

 _"Oh no." Tony groaned, tilting his head back. Rhodey ignored him, "Un-be-li-evable."_

 _The screen switched so it was closer to Tony and Rhodey's face, Tony's side to the camera._

 _"When I told them that if I presented you with an award you would be deeply honored." Rhodey said._

 _"Of course I'd be deeply honored," Tony argued, "It's you! It's great. So what are we doing?"_

 _"It's right here." said Rhodey, holding the award up as Tony yelled, "One more round!"_

 _Apparently noticing the trophy, Tony took it in hand, "Oh, there it is. That was easy." he turned to Rhodey, who still looked very unamused. "I'm so sorry."_

 _"Yeah, it's okay." Rhodey said, although it obviously wasn't by the sound of his voice._

 _"Well, would you look at that." Tony said, glancing at the award before handing it to the brunette and turning back to the gambling table. "That's, uh, that's really something else. I don't think I have any of those floating around."_

 _The screen cut down to his hands, which were pushing a pile of playing chips forward before picking up the two red dice._

 _"Give me a hand, will ya?" he asked, holding it in front of the brunette's face, who blew on it._

The Asset blinked at the screen dumbly. Did the women have super powered or supernatural breath?

 _"Okay, you too," said Tony, now holding his fist up to Rhodey._

 _"I don't blow on a mans dice."_

 _"C'mon, you scared?" asked Tony, but Rhodey was shaking his head, repeating that he doesn't blow on a mans dice, and he swatted Tony's hand away, making him drop the dice. "There it is! The Colonel rolls and-"_

 _It showed the dice, having both landed with a large dot and unintelligible words going around it facing upwards._

 _This is obviously bad, because Rhodey shrugs, with a face that said_ you deserved that. _"That's what happens."_

 _"Worst things have happened," said Tony, "I think we're going to be fine. Call me up, will ya?"_

 _The screen now cuts to Tony, Rhodey, Happy and two other broad shouldered men walking through the hall._

 _"I'll see ya tomorrow." Tony declared, shaking Rhodey's hand._

 _"Alright, tomorrow, and don't be late!"_

"He's gonna be late, isn't he?" Natasha said. Tony opened his mouth to defend himself, but Rhodey elbowed him in the ribs, so instead he grumbled to himself and returned to the screen.

 _"Right, you can count on it!" Tony said, pointing at Rhodey, who pointed right back at him with an, "I'm serious!"_

 _Tony and his three bodyguards passed a women taking a picture with a young boy and girl wearing Greek armor. "Here," said Tony, handing the boy the Apogee award and walking away, leaving the boy to look at it in confusion._

"Well," said Sam, "At least you didn't throw it in a trash can."

"He probably would have, actually." Rhodey pointed out, sending the man at his side a glare, "It really depends on which opportunity presents itself first. Either hand it to a random stranger, throw it into the bin or leave it on a table or in the bathroom for someone to find."

"You really don't care about awards, do you?" Clint said.

Tony shrugged. "When I was a kid, I would do my best to get awards to try and impress my Dad, but he didn't seem to care about any of my accomplishments, just that I complete the projects he assigns me."

Bruce frowned in confusion. "What kind of projects?"

"Usually stuff he can sell at Stark Industries."

"He had you building weapons for him?" asked Scott, and now half of the viewers were frowning at him.

Tony shrugged again, trying to hide his discomfort. "Er... yeah. Yeah, he did."

No one seemed sure what to say at that, and Steve looked almost crestfallen, so Tony turned his attention back to the screen and, when no one said anything, the film continued.

 _It now shows Tony and his bodyguards outside, walking past a white marble fountain and to a sleek black car. Happy opens the door for him, but before Tony can get in a voice calls out to him._ _"Mr. Stark!"_

 _The screen shows a young, tanned women with blond hair walking towards them, one of Tony's bodyguards holding a hand up to tell her not to come any closer._

 _"Mr. Stark! Christine Everhart," she introduced herself, "Vanity Fair Magazine, can I ask you a couple of questions?"_

 _It switched back to Tony, his hand resting on top of the car door, as Happy mutters to him, "She's cute."_

 _"She alright?" Tony muttered back, and when Happy nodded, he turned around to face Everhart._

"Again!" Tony exclaimed, "Before Pepper!"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "We got that the first time."

 _"Hi." Tony greeted, walking up to the reporter._

 _"Hi, hey." said Everhart._

 _"Yeah," Tony said, "Okay, go."_

 _"It's okay?" at Tony's nod, Everhart held up a voice recorder, "You've been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?"_

 _"Absoloutly ridiculous, I don't paint."_

Jane and Darcy nodded as if to silently say _Fair enough._

 _"And what do you say to your other nickname, The Merchant of Death?"_

Tony looked rather sick again, but he ignored the concerned looks shot his way.

 _"That's not bad." the man joked._

Swallowing thickly, Tony averted his gaze from the screen, scowling at his own idiocy. Rhodey pulled him into another half-hug.

 _"Let me guess," he continued, "Berkeley?"_

 _"Brown, actually."_

 _"Well, Ms. Brown," said Tony, "It's an imperfect world but it's the only one we've got. I guarantee you, the day weapons are no longer needed to keep the peace, I'll start making bricks and beams for baby hospitals."_

"Huh." Pepper said, raising her eyebrows at the screen, "So that's why we're funding a baby hospital."

 _"You rehearse that much?"_

 _"Every night in front of the mirror before bedtime."_

 _"I can see that."_

 _"I'd like to show you first hand."_

 _Everhart shook her head, "All I want is a serious answer."_

 _"Okay, here's serious," Tony said, "My old man had a philosophy: 'Peace means having a bigger stick then the other guy.'"_

"Howard actually said that?" Steve asked quietly, and Tony winced, hating that he'd ruined the Captains good image of Howard. Sure, he hated the man, but that didn't mean he'd been a bad guy back in the forties.

"I'm not surprised, if he had his kid son making weapons for him." said Bruce bitterly, making Tony blink at him in surprise.

 _"That's a great line coming from the guy selling the sticks." said Everhart._

 _"My father helped defeat the Nazi's," Tony began, no longer smiling, "He worked on the Manhattan Project. A lot of people, including your professors at Brown, would call that being a hero."_

 _"And a lot of people would also call that warfare profiteering." Everhart shot back, and Tony, visibly annoyed, took off his sunglasses._

 _"Tell me, do you plan to report the millions we've saved by advancing medical technology," here, Tony leans a bit closer to the voice recorder, "Or kept from starvation with our intella-crops? All those breakthroughs, military funding, honey."_

 _"Wow," said Everhart, not sounding the least bit impressed, "You ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life?"_

"You've got no idea." Tony muttered, the only ones hearing him being the Asset and Rhodey, who pulled him closer.

 _He gives a small shrug, "I'd be prepared to lose a few with you."_

 _The screen shows Everhart's face for a moment, before changing to her and Tony falling onto a bed, Everhart already in her panties, kissing fiercely and tugging at each others clothes. They roll over, Tony laughing as they fall off the bed._

"Wow!" Steve exclaimed, covering his eyes. "I did not need to see that."

"I've been scarred for life." Clint stated, looking at the screen in horror.

"Let's just be glad there aren't any children here." Scott muttered, wincing at the thought of his daughter witnessing this.

The Asset blinked in confusion at their actions. What was so disturbing? If Stark and the Reporter had done what he suspects, he didn't see what was wrong with it. It was Standard American Protocol, after all.

Tony leaned towards Pepper, giving a sheepish grin. "Honey? You okay?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "It's fine, Tony. If anyone knows about your sex life, before and after we got together, it's going to be me. I am the one that has to kick them out in the morning, after all."

"Was." Tony corrected, lightly kissing her on the lips. "I don't want you kicking yourself out."

"Oh, please," Pepper laughed, "You wouldn't laugh a week without me."

"Dully noted."

* * *

 **YUPEE! UPDATE! Sorry again for not being on sight for a while guys. I'll try to update _I Just Wanna Be Okay_ again by next Friday. Thank you for all the lovely reviews.**

 **Also, I've read Watching the Movie stories before and I'm never really happy with the beginning bit reactions, because usually Tony either stares at the screen blankly or looks away. I just think that if Rhodey and Pepper were there, they'd comfort him best they could, like they have in this one.**

 **Anyway, _don't you dare say anything about Civil War._ I won't be seeing it until late May, if even that, 'cause I live in Italy and since I want to get it in English, I have to wait a while longer. Which is going to be _hell_ because I'm sure a lot of writers are going to be writing about Civil War now that it's out.**


	4. REWRITE?

_Readers,_

I am terribly sorry, but this is not an update. Do not worry though, I'm not discontinuing this story. But I've been thinking of rewriting it so that it's right after _Avengers_ , as well as adding a few short stories, like _Agent Carter,_ as well as some of the characters from Civil War, such as Spiderman, Ant-Man and Black Panther.

I may also change the watching list, so that _Captain America: The First Avenger_ is first. I might also put in Rumlow or Pierce, if just so the others can beat the crap out of them during _Winter Soldier._

I might also add a few episodes (but not a full season) of _Agents of Shield,_ the _Agent Carter_ series and _Daredevil._

But, alas, I am not sure if I want to add so much or not. If you want me to do the rewrite, I'll have Cap's movie first, then fit the shorts into the list.

You're thoughts?

 _Toni42_


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